The design of an interface should not distract from the content or the task at hand, but rather enhance it. Plus, it should strike the right balance between user needs and business goals.

I do my best to follow solid design principles and patterns, while focusing on the most essential design elements (layout, typography, color…) and keeping decorations and ornaments to a minimum, with the aim of creating simple and effective designs that meet their goals.

Simplicity, not minimalism, should be the goal when designing interfaces.

Minimalism is an aesthetic choice, there’s nothing inherently “good” in it, and certainly not when it diminishes affordances or is disguised as false simplicity. True simplicity, on the other hand, serves as a guiding principle for the design of usable interfaces, those that strike a balance between affordable and honest design.

It leads to a consistent and cohesive design language and system, shared between all disciplines (architecture, design, development…) and parties (clients, consultants, end-users…), which translates into improved productivity and usability.

Efficiency

It promotes reuse, which results in a more efficient system and help us work more efficiently.

Flexibility

It identifies different, reusable design components that can be “mixed and matched” as needed to create a completely flexible system.

Adaptability

It provides a structured foundation for building adaptable and responsive interfaces, and thus deliver optimized experiences to any device (desktop computers, tablets, mobile phones…) more efficiently.

What’s next?

Development

Front-end development

I architect and build user interfaces with HTML, CSS and a dash of JavaScript.

I specialize in modular and scalable front-end methodologies, such as OOCSS, SMACSS or BEM.

Back-end development

I develop custom multilingual CMS solutions and web applications with PHP and MySQL, specializing in WordPress for CMS development and CodeIgniter for custom application development.

I strive to create user-friendly and flexible CMSs, as well as reliable, performant and secure web applications.

Principles

Front-end

I have extensive experience coding semantic HTML and modular CSS. I am particularly interested in modular front-end methodologies, such as OOCSS, SMACSS or BEM. These methodologies form the basis for an efficient, maintainable and scalable front-end architecture.

I use a combination of preprocessors and frameworks to help me streamline my workflow: Jade for HTML/HTML5, Less for CSS/CSS3, and Bootstrap as my responsive and UI components framework of choice. I have used or tested other alternative preprocessors and frameworks such as Haml, Sass, Stylus or Zurb Foundation.

I use JavaScript and the DOM/BOM APIs in conjunction with the jQuery framework for small UI/UX enhancements (component behaviors, asynchronous requests…). I have just started using utility libraries such as Underscore.js/Lo-Dash, have only limited experience with CoffeeScript, and have no experience at all with front-end MV* frameworks.

Back-end

I have extensive experience with WordPress for CMS development and CodeIgniter for web application development.

What I like about WordPress is its flexibility and extensibility as a content management framework (custom content types, custom taxonomies, plugin API…), and the creative freedom of its theme system. I’ve built fully customized and multilingual CMSs based on WordPress, coupled with some of the most versatile plugins (WPML, Advanced Custom Fields, Pods…).

I appreciate CodeIgniter for its simplicity, performance and documentation. I’ve been using it for web application development in conjunction with other standalone libraries (Composer) and components from other frameworks (Zend Framework, Symfony and Kohana). However, CodeIgniter is struggling to adapt to modernPHP best practices, that’s why I’m learningLaravel, a framework that strikes a balance between modern practices and simplicity.

I have some experience with other technologies related to web application development:

Hosting

When it comes to hosting I tend to favor good quality managed services over dedicated ones.

What I look for when choosing a hosting service is performance, reliability, security, flexibility and scalability, plus a good and fast support.

The server OS should be Unix-based, with Nginx or Apache as the HTTP server. These could be WebFaction, or CDmon when the servers must be located in Spain or support in spanish is required. Or, if the project requires it and the budget allows it, on a managed VPS, managed dedicated server, or PaaS provider; preferably Pagoda Box, Fortrabbit or Red Hat OpenShift. Sometimes I’ll add CloudlFlare to the mix, for increased security and performance.

I’m not a sysadmin by any means, so for more complex or demanding scenarios I’ll work together with a qualified sysadmin to setup the necessary infrastructure, be it VPS, dedicated, or IaaS based. It would preferably be hosted on DigitalOcean or Amazon EC2.

Tools

After trying and using different IDEs, I’ve settled on PhpStorm for front-end and back-end development. It has all the features required for modern web development, testing and debugging, plus it is constantly updated. I use PhpStorm as my Xdebug client, and Sequel Pro as my MySQL client. For quick edits I tend to use Sublime Text.

I use Git for version control, with SourceTree as the front-end, and Bitbucket with Bitbucket Cards as the hosting and project management service.

For my local development environment I use MAMP Pro, with Homebrew and Homebrew-PHP for software package management, and ngrok for tunneling. For development environment virtualization I use VirtualBox.

For browser and device testing I use a combination of LiveReload, Adobe Edge Inspect CC, Viewport iPad app, BrowserStack and VirtualBox.

What’s next?

The technology and software business seems to obsess with what is in flux and changing. Always new stuff. New languages and frameworks. Focus on what doesn't change and think about the things that matter today and will matter 10 years from now.

Web development is a fast-paced and ever-evolving field. Keeping up is just part of the job. However, a balance must be struck between learning new technologies and getting better with the ones you are familiar with. Furthermore, while new technologies come and go, the fundamentals remain essentially the same.

That’s why I focus on learning the technologies that I need or find useful for my work, while keeping an eye on the popular and emerging ones, to have at least an informed opinion.

Photography

Music

Photography

What I like about photography is the immediate sense of focus it brings, requiring you to be totally present and creative. It’s a precious moment of mindfulness.

I like simple, direct, balanced compositions, and tend to prefer natural and available light over artificial lighting.

The subject matter can be anything, with portraits probably being my favorite.

Born and raised analog

I have always been attracted to photography. During high school, in the mid to late 90s, I discovered the magic of darkroom and film-based photography. But it was not until mid 2000s that I really started using a camera regularly, my parents’ Canon T50 SLR camera.

At that time I used to use slide film, which required a precise control of exposure due to its very limited exposure latitude. Unfortunately, the Canon T50 was a fully automatic camera, so it had no manual exposure control.

One year and many rolls later, I managed to get a gorgeous Canon A-1 on eBay, equipped with two great Canon FD mount lenses (Canon FD 28/2.8, Canon FD 50/1.4 S.S.C) and its dedicated Canon Speedlite 199A flash unit. It was my first serious SLR camera, with full manual exposure control.

About a year later I had gotten on eBay a Canon FD 135/2.5 S.C. lens and a flagship Canon T90 body with its dedicated Canon Speedlite 300TL flash unit. I used it as a second body for my FD lenses, which allowed me to shoot films of different type and sensitivity.

For the following two years, besides carrying my camera everywhere, I was buying and selling photo gear all over the world via eBay. During that time I successfully disassembled and repaired tens of lenses and camera bodies, and it was quite a rewarding experience.

At that time I discovered probably one of the most overlooked camera systems, the Konica SLR system. The Konica Hexanon AR lenses provided an unparalleled image quality at a fraction of the cost of the equivalent Canon FD lenses. Some photography magazines praised Konica Hexanon AR lenses as one of the sharpest lenses ever built by any manufacturer for 35 mm cameras. My Konica gear grew rapidly, two camera bodies, the sturdily built Konica Autoreflex T3 and the more compact and lighter Konica Autoreflex T4, plus an embarrassingly large set of Konica AR mount lenses:

And a 6x7 medium format rangefinder camera, the Rapid Omega 200, with a complete set of outstanding lenses:

Wide Omegon 58/5.6

Super Omegon 90/3.5

Tele Omegon 180/4.5

From analog to digital

I used film (Tri-X, Plus-X, Kodachrome…) almost exclusively until mid-2008. I used to develop black and white film at my home laboratory and make prints with the beautifully engineered Leitz Valoy II (Leica) enlarger. The slide film, which I was particularly fond of, was delightfully projected by my partner’s Leitz Pradovit RA 150 (Leica) slide projector.

My transition to digital photography started as soon as I acquired a dedicated 35mm film scanner, the Microtek ArtixScan 4000t. Its resolution power rivaled that of the contemporary DSLRs.

Shooting, developing, enlarging and scanning film was not the fastest workflow. It was in fact quite tedious, and expensive. Back then, DSLRs with good specs were starting to be affordable. I began to search for the most film-like DSLR, which quickly led me to Sigma Foveon X3® direct image sensor based cameras. I was lucky to find someone that wanted to get rid of his recently purchased Sigma SD14 bundled with two of the best Sigma SA mount lenses:

Sigma 30/1.4 EX DC

Sigma 70/2.8 EX DG Macro

Minimal gear

Since mid-2008 I’ve been using exclusively my Sigma SD14 which, with all its quirks and limitations, still delivers an exceptional image quality when shooting under optimal conditions. I love its simple and straightforward interface, free from feature-bloat. Great image quality and simple controls, just what a serious camera should be.

The lens I use the most is the quite affordable M42 mount Yashica Yashinon DS-M 50/1.7. A vintage manual lens with an excellent balance of resolution power, contrast and color rendition.

I always use prime lenses, I have no zooms, and shoot in manual mode. What I value the most in photo hardware is image quality and simplicity.

For editing I use a NEC MultiSync EA231WMi monitor, color calibrated with a X-Rite i1Display 2.

As for software, I like to keep it simple too. I use mainly Sigma’s own RAW developer (Sigma Photo Pro) and Apple Aperture for the adjustments or edits not supported by Sigma Photo Pro. In rare occasions I use other advanced or specialty software such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom or ToyCamera AnalogColor.

Fortunately, the days of buying, selling and repairing vintage photo gear are long gone. I’m absolutely happy with what I’ve got, and am not investing in any new gear since 2008.

From still to “moving pictures”

Lately, I’ve started experimenting with shooting video as well as doing simple editing/post-production (Final Cut Pro X and DaVinci Resolve), with the help of my brother Hugo, who teaches video production at SAE Institute Barcelona.

Long gone are the times when we were shooting the mythical Super 8 Kodachrome film on his Canon 1014 XL-S, “the pinnacle of Canon 8mm movie cameras”.

In early 2013, we (me and my partner) acquired a mirrorless interchangeable lens APS-C camera, the Sony NEX-5n. A small but powerful camera capable of producing almost cinematic results, a perfect camera to complement my Sigma SD14 which doesn’t support video recording of any short. It would allow us to have nice quality videos of our little family. Plus, it would allow me to use all my legacy manual lenses (Konica Hexanon AR, Carl Zeiss T* C/Y, Canon FD, Yashica Yashinon M42…) on a digital body without losing infinity focus, thanks to Sony E-mount’s amazingly short flange focal distance.

All in all, I still much prefer photography, and I’m sure that won’t change. Video can’t beat photography’s simplicity.

What’s next?

Music

Making music is one of the most freeing, challenging and rewarding activities I have ever done.

I am fascinated by the process of layering instruments into one unique sound, while listening and reacting to the interactions between them. It is a captivating experience.

I like to create simple instrumental music that blend electronic and acoustic elements.

Born and raised analog

I’ve been interested in music for as long as I can remember. But, I didn’t start playing an instrument until I was a teenager.

I took guitar lessons for two years when I was about 14. At that time I was inspired by 90s alternative rock (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, My Bloody Valentine…) and 70s hard rock (Deep Purple, Free…), which I discovered thanks to my dad’s vinyl collection.

During that time I played music with friends and in a short-lived local band. We never did covers, only original material.

From analog to digital

I was introduced to electronic music by my brother Hugo, in late 90s, after listening to Eboman’s totally crazy “Donuts with Buddha” track. Up to those minutes I had never showed the slightest interest in electronic music. From then on, I became more and more interested in genres such as trip-hop, instrumental hip-hop and downtempo (Howie B, Björk, Boards of Canada, Coldcut…).

My brother and I started experimenting with digital audio in late 1997, when my family got our first computer. Back then we had no Internet at home, Future Music magazine was our only source of information. We would use trackers and early incarnations of today's editors and DAWs for making music.

We didn’t have hardly any dedicated music hardware. However, we were very lucky to get our hands on a Roland Juno 60 vintage analog synth at a second hand shop. Some years later, I would acquire a Casio FZ-1 vintage sampler, which doubled as an exceptional MIDI keyboard controller. Besides that, during college I assembled some DIY MIDI controllers from uCApps.de.

I use a pair Tannoy Reveal 601a active nearfield monitors and a pair of Sennheiser HD 25-1 headphones. The monitors are mounted on Skum Acoustics Fötter isolation pads, and are wired with custom XLR speaker cable manufactured by designacbale.com

What’s next?

I am eager and determined to continue learning (music theory, composition, sound design, mixing, mastering…) and creating as much as I possibly can.